Parenting
by gumdropj
Summary: Health was an 'easy A' for Ponyboy, that was until the parenting unit was introduced. Unfortunately, Mr. Harrison wasn't expecting an uneven class and so Ponyboy and Johnny are forced to work together. Relationships could get better ... or worse. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A big thanks goes to spicygurl for contributing a lot to this story and makin' it happen and to Jamie, my anonymous reviewer, for requesting that I write an Outsiders fanfic. Maybe I'll try for a slash... :) Enjoy!**

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Ponyboy's POV**

I walked into my 8th period health class with a huge knot in my stomach. In all of the classes before this, everybody was telling me how disgusting today's lesson would be for me. They would slip some pictures and notes into my locker and talk about things I wasn't sure I wanted to know yet. But, nobody's teasing was as bad as Two-Bit's. He'd shown me some graphic child-birth video and I'd only watched 5 minutes of it before I got sick. I guess it was everyone's goal to make me throw up or something.

I took my seat at the back of the classroom in-between Two-Bit and Johnny.

"Today, class, you'll be starting your child development project for your health exam. You must take care of your baby for two weeks and return it in top shape."

"What's the baby look like?" some girl in the front row asked out loud.

"Ahh, good question, Ms. Tinsley." Mr. Harrison pulled out a large, blue crate filled with sacks of flour from underneath his desk. He took one of them out and showed everyone. "Class, this is your baby for the assignment. The condition of it at the end of the two weeks will reflect half of your grade. The other half will come from a written assignment about your experience with the child. Easy enough?"

A few people nodded their heads. I was one of them. I mean, this project couldn't be any easier. And it wasn't like anything Two-Bit shown to me. All you had to do was stuff the bag into a closet for two weeks, take it out, and turn it in. Right? Wrong.

Mr. Harrison seemed to be reading my mind. "And, simply cramming your baby into your locker or stuffing it into a closet or under your bed is not going to cut it." He turned the flour bag that he had in his hand revealing some sort of recorder or something. "On the back of everyone's baby is a sensor. If you abandon your child in a dark alley it will cry. If your child cries for too long your grade will automatically drop. So, I suggest you take your child everywhere you go and keep a good eye on it."

"Alright, now if I could ask all the gentlemen to come to the front and draw a lady's name out of this hat," Mr. Harrison announced.

Slowly and sloppily the boys stood from their seats and approached the front of the class. Well, all except Two-Bit, who raced to the front of the room yelling that he wanted his partner to be Kathy, his girlfriend.

"Sheryl?" Two-Bit questioned. "What the hell! This thing is rigged!" The boy who picked after him sighed in relief and took a step towards where his seat was. Two-Bit stopped him. "Who'd you get?"

The boy, Jerry, I think, smiled and held out his paper to Two-Bit. "Kathy. She's a babe, right?"

Two-Bit smiled. "Yeah, you think so?"

Jerry nodded. "How about that ass?" He licked his lips. "Yeah, I could hit that." I knew my cheeks were red because they were burning intensely. The phraseology they were using was a bit too mature for me.

"You think so? Yeah, I'd hit that, too. Oh wait–" Two-Bit made his voice sound overly surprised. "I already did! That's my girlfriend!" The face he was making made him look real tuff and Two-Bit looks tuff enough when he's not even trying.

Jerry took a step back. "I-I didn't mean it like that –" And that's all Jerry got in before he was punched in the face. He fell back on the ground, holding his nose.

Two-Bit snatched up the small slip of paper from Jerry's fingertips. "Thanks, Jerry." He dropped his paper in his lap. "Have all the fun you want to have with Sheryl." He then turned to his left and ran towards Kathy. "Kathy, we're partners! I'm a daddy!"

I rolled my eyes. The line gradually moved up as some people ran excitedly to their partners and other people traded names. By the time me and Johnny got to the front of the line there weren't any slips left. I stared into the empty hat.

"Oh, I'm afraid we've had a miscalculation. It appears we have an uneven class." Mr. Harrison mumbled to himself while counting heads to the best of his ability. "Would you two mind hooking up?" My eyes grew wide and Johnny blushed. Mr. Harrison cleared his throat, catching his mistake. "I-I mean, get together – I mean..." He thought of his response. "Will you boys mind working together on this assignment? I know it will be strange since you are both males, but this could be a rewarding experience. And if you do, I'll bump your grade up another letter automatically. Regardless of the condition of the baby."

Now _that _was an offer. I mean, I didn't need it but it would surely help Johnny pass this semester. "Sure, no problem, Mr. Harrison."

"I'll save you the embarrassment and hand you your child now." He went to his crate and pulled out a bag of flour. He walked towards us then paused, looking between Johnny and myself. "Who's the...er, mother?"

Johnny and I looked at each other, each with a face that said, _"No way in HELL!" _

"Well, who's older?" Mr. Harrison asked. Damn, I knew where this was going. Johnny raised his hand slightly. "Then you're the father." It wasn't fair; Steve's mom was 36 while his father was 34. What's age gotta do with anything? Mr. Harrison handed me the flour-bag baby. "You'll be the mother then, Ponyboy." I nodded stiffly, then returned to my seat. At least no one would know about this.

Not more than a minute had passed before Two-Bit started chuckling beside me.

I turned to look at him. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, _Mrs_. Curtis."

I gulped nervously. He couldn't possibly know about mine and Johnny's deal with Mr. Harrison. "What're you talkin' about?" I tried for the dumb role.

Two-Bit smiled at me. "You know what. You an' Johnny are married!" Two-Bit burst out into laughter causing the whole class to look back at us. "I think we've got a couple a fags in the building!"

Everyone started up in a quiet laughter. I could hear the whispering and pointing at me and Johnny.

"_I knew they were..."_

"_...spend too much time with each other..."_

I could already feel my face getting hot. I risked a glance over at Johnny. He slouched down in his chair, pretending to be busy with notes. I did the same, hoping that everyone would just ignore me. But, no, Two-Bit still had some more to say. He stood up on his chair and cleared his throat dramatically. I hid my head in my hands, knowing that he was about to make one of his 'speeches'. So much for saving the embarrassment.

"I, for one, support gays' rights. If two people really love each other, they should be allowed to get married." Two-Bit looked right at Johnny and me as he added, "Even if they're both guys. You see everyone, my friends Ponyboy and Johnny have recently discovered their feelings for each other and-"

"Mr. Matthews!" Thank God for Mr. Harrison! "I would advise you to sit down unless you wish to have a detention."

Two-Bit hopped down from the chair and sat down. "Just exercising my rights, sir," he said sincerely.

"Not in my class, Matthews," Mr. Harrison warned. "Now, please come down the aisle and get yours and Kathy's baby."

"Sure thing!" Two-Bit grinned happily as he linked arms with Kathy and walked her down the isle. Mr. Harrison handed them the flour-bag which was a signal that they could go back to their seats, but Two-Bit wasn't so satisfied.

"How 'bout those wedding vows, Priest?"

"This isn't a wedding. I'm not a preacher," Mr. Harrison explained. "There are no vows."

"Okay, Reverend."

"I'm not a reverend either," Mr. Harrison said, already getting annoyed with Two-Bit.

"Sure thing, Pastor."

"We can have this discussion after class if you really want to talk about it."

Two-Bit let that matter drop. "Well, do I still get to kiss her?"

"What?"

"You know, do I get to kiss the bride?"

Kathy let out a giggle. "That is the custom," she mused.

"Well, um, that isn't necessary."

Two-Bit started leaning in towards Kathy.

"Not in my my classroom! I think you really do want a detention, huh?"

"No, sir!" Two-Bit turned Kathy around and headed back to his desk humming_ The Wedding March_.

The bell rang just as Mr. Harrison was making his closing remarks. "You'll find everything you need to take care of your child in the baby bag provided here." He stood at the door with a bunch of baby bags about the size and shape of a purse. "Grab one of these on your way out. And your homework for tonight is to come up with a name for the baby."

Two-Bit started twisting his baby in his hands. "How do we know if it's a boy or girl?"

"When you change it's diaper..."

Two-Bit peeked inside of the little make-shift diaper and scrunched up his face. "Hey, Kathy, this look like a dick to you?"

"Class dismissed!"

The room cleared out quickly. Only me and Johnny were left.

Johnny smirked at me. "Guess, you'll be takin' the bag?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. He'd probably already known that this was going to happen. No wonder he'd offered to take the baby from me. "Guess so." I uncomfortably slung the bag over my shoulder and started shifting it to different positions. I never really understood how girls were able to carry this around all day. But, then again, I never really understood girls in general.

Mr. Harrison stopped me on my way out.

"Yeah?"

He put a hand on my shoulder and that just made me feel really weird considering everything that had happened in just one class period. Me and Johnny were supposedly a 'gay married couple' according to Two-Bit, I was the mother, and I had to carry this stupid purse.

"Now, Ponyboy, I'm sure you've heard this a million times, but remember, 'It's not a purse; it's a _satchel_.' Lots of famous guys wear one."

I fought the urge to say _Like who? _Mr. Harrison was standing all tall and proud, like he really got through to me or something. And one of the worst thing you could do to a guy is take away his pride.

"And, just so you know, I support 'gays' rights' too. Don't feel too left out. It's okay to express your feelings for one another and-"

"Okay, Mr. Harrison, got it." I wasn't ready for another 'gay speech' so I grabbed Johnny's arm, pulled him out of the classroom, and started heading towards home.

We walked in silence for a couple of minutes before Johnny asked about Two-Bit's speech. "What'd he say?"

"You didn't hear?" And all that time I thought he was only _pretending _to take notes. "Oh, um, he was just talkin' about how he supports gays' rights and stuff. Then he said somethin' 'bout how we had feelings for each other. I don't know... Crazy ain't it?"

"Yeah... crazy." Johnny gave me a shaky kind of laughter then busied himself by kicking a can along the street. I thought I saw something flash across his face. Disappointment maybe?

"We should get together tonight," Johnny suggested. I took a quick look at him and he turned a shade of red as he caught the double meaning. "I mean, you know, for the project."

"Come over whenever you want."

"'Kay. I'll take care of the baby this week and you'll get the next."

"Yeah, that's fair." I handed him the 'satchel' and headed off to my house, way more than unprepared for the longest two weeks of my life.

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A/N: So... what'd ya think? Good? Bad? Leave a review! No flames. Concrit is always welcome though. :) And I know it's a bit OOC... I don't think they had that type of technology... but bear with me.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter! I'll try to make this story as awesome as you guys! In my mind this chapter is unfinished, but it's been a long time since its been updated so I just wanted to put something up... Enjoy! And lots of you guys preferred 'no slash' so we'll see about that. If there's any slash in this, just know that it's not intended... 'kay? :)**

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"Ben...? Zachary...? Tom...?" Me and Johnny were sitting together on the couch, still struggling to come up with a good name for 'our baby'.

Just as I was about to call a quits, I realized that I'd forgotten a very important detail.

"Boy or girl?"

Johnny looked like he'd forgotten too. "Oh, um... guess it's a good time for a diaper change, huh?" He looked at me expectantly and I shrugged.

"I don't know how to change a diaper, Johnny."

"I don't either. What are we supposed to do? It'll cry if it's not changed."

The door opened and closed gently as someone came in. "Hey, guys!" Two-Bit greeted quietly. Kathy followed behind him with their baby. "What's happenin'?"

"We don't know how to change a diaper," I confessed.

Two-Bit laughed and Kathy 'aww'd us. "I'll help you," she said with a sweet smile on her face that contradicted her crude style of dressing. She'd undone the pins slowly and told us what they were for. Then, she lifted the baby's bottom end and slid the diaper out carefully before announcing, "it's definitely a girl."

"So what should the name be?" We've already wasted a lot of time comin' up with boys' names so I was more than ready to go with any idea.

Johnny thought for a moment. "How 'bout... Angela?" he offered. "Er, no, that's.."

"Perfect!" I finished for him and laid back on the couch with a mind set on going to sleep. The baby, Angela, hadn't shut up for the past six hours and I was convinced that me and Johnny were failing. But the crying wasn't even the worst part. It was all the near-death experiences we'd gone through with the baby.

First of all, there were these giant crows that kept trying to peck at Angela while we were sitting in the vacant lot. Then, me and Johnny decided to take a walk down to the park and back and that was probably the worst decision we'd ever made because as we were nearing the park, three Socs pulled up in their Mustangs lookin' for a fight. Now so far me and Johnny had done nothing wrong. We weren't walkin' by our lonesome and we definitely weren't tryin' to fight no one. When the Socs stopped us we didn't say a single word to them. We know how to keep our mouths shut real good... well, Johnny does at least.

I was cradling the flour-bag like it was a real baby 'cause as long as I was doing that it wasn't crying and Johnny had the satchel of baby supplies slung over his shoulder. I could imagine that we looked like "a couple of fucking fags" (that's how the Socs put it), but that didn't sit right with me so I spat in their face and everything after that went downhill... Johnny was a good fighter though. I don't think we would've made it home without all those great punches...

The only upside to the day was probably when Kathy came over and helped us with one of the main tasks of caring for a baby. Two-Bit had left with Kathy after she insisted it was getting late and the baby needed its sleep in order for her to get any rest.

Anyways, the day kept getting worse and worse for me and all I wanted was a peaceful sleep...

Sunlight streamed in from the window breach Somewhere along the road, Johnny and I had fallen asleep in each others arms with the baby in between us. _Damn it, _I thought. _We'd better get up before..._

It was too late. Two-Bit's thunderous laughter was heard from the doorway. I was in a very heated battle: should I pretend to go back to sleep or wake Johnny up before we got in deeper shit? At the last second, I felt my muscles relax and my eyes slammed shut tightly. I was definitely going to pretend.

"Two-Bit, shut up!" Soda yelled with a mock annoyance in his voice. _Aw, damn! Why me?_ "What's so funny any –" His voice, slightly irritated, was quickly developing into a laugh. "Oh my god!"

I stayed put in Johnny's arms as the laughter continued. I could hear Soda tying to hush Two-Bit but he himself couldn't be quiet. I think that made them laugh worse.

"Alright, okay," Soda gasped. "No more."

"Sure." Two-Bit was right there with him on the whole out of breath thing. "I think they look real tuff like that."

Now at that comment I had to peek an eye open. Two-Bit was standing in the doorway arms crossed and lookin' completely serious.

Soda wrinkled up his nose and took a sideways glance at Two-Bit. "Really?" He cocked his head to the side as if to get a better perspective on the scene. _"Really?"_ he repeated.

"Absolutely! There ain't nothin' tuffer then a pair of greasy guys cuddlin' up on the couch." Two-Bit sounded so genuinely sincere that I almost believed him. _Almost_.

Soda and Two-Bit exchanged mystified expressions with each other and then, after a brief silence, started up laughing again as they walked back down the hall.

"Time to get up, Johnny. Rise an' shine..." I shook his arm and he sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. It didn't take us too long to get ready, even with the constant cries of the baby. And I'm not saying we ignored it or anything... we're just good at balancing responsibilities. Once everybody was all set me and Johnny carpooled with Kathy and Two-Bit.

All of the my classes dragged on sluggishly. Besides the ice-cold shower I took this morning, the thing that really got my eyes open was when I accidentally bumped into this girl on my way to Health class.

"Watch where you're-" She stopped mid-sentence when she saw the little bag of flour in my arms. "Oh, you gotta do that too?"

I nodded seeing that she also held a bag of flour. "Uh, yeah...her name's Angela," I said and immediately wanted to take it back.

"What?"

"Um, Angela?"

"You named that-that _thing_ after _me_?" she asked and then glared at me in a such a dark way that I thought I was about to get slapped. But instead she just traced a cold path down my arm and brushed past me saying something like "How sweet!"

As if things couldn't get any worse, Two-Bit had to show up and tell me he saw the whole thing. He just has a knack for showing up when I least wanted him to.

He shoved me against the set of lockers, which really hurt because Two-Bit was kinda huge. "What do you think you were doing with _her_? Maybe you haven't realized it; but your married to Johnny! He'd never cheat on you!"

"Aw, lay off, Two-Bit!" Once his mind was fixated on something that was that. No telling him otherwise. So from the moment him and Kathy got 'married' everything was real to him.

"You know what? I thought you were better than this, Pony. I'm telling Johnny," Two-Bit threatened openly and then rushed into the classroom yelling, "Johnny, I've got some big news!" I sighed heavily before following after him.

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A/N: Extremely weird stopping point, but as I said before 'it's unfinished'. Reviews make me happy! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks again to spicygurl who helped me a TON with this story. It wouldn't be good without your writing expertise. ****And also thank you ArthurDracula for giving me a super-awesome idea which will show up in a later chapter. :) Okay... go ahead and read now.  
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Two-bit rushed into a seat right next to Johnny and launched off into his story straightaway. I watched from a distance, seeing two very thoughtful faces and a lot of nodding. They didn't even glance in my general direction. As soon as I took the empty chair next to them, Two-Bit stopped talking and shot me a hateful look.

"What?" I asked, feeling my eyebrows furrow together. I hadn't even done anything yet.

"_Cheater," _Two-Bit whispered and then went over to sit by Kathy.

All attention turned to Mr. Harrison as he walked to the front of the class. He smiled and said, "How's everyone been holding up so far?"

We gave him a few tired nods and some mumbled 'Okays'.

"Good." Mr. Harrison took a clipboard from his desk, flipped up a couple of pages and then started writing something down. He sauntered over to the first desk in the front row and handed Sheryl the clipboard. "Find both of your names -you and Jerry, I think- and write down the name for your baby."

Sheryl peeked over at Jerry for the name of their baby. They must've never come up with one. Unfortunately, Jerry wasn't paying attention; he seemed to be too busy talking with another girl.

Sheryl quickly turned back around in her seat and muttered something like, "...never pays attention..."

"You can always file for divorce," Mr. Harrison suggested.

Sheryl eyes lit up with a new desire. "Really?" she asked, incredulous.

"I'm trying to make this whole experience as real-life as possible... But just know both of you have to agree to it and you'll have to take care of your own separate babies."

"Okay, that's fine," she said, smiling to herself.

"Alright," Mr. Harrison said. He ripped a sheet of paper out from the clipboard and with a huff he jotted down a note. "Sheryl and Jerry, file for divorce..." he grumbled under his breath. "Only _one day_ into project..." He put out the pen and paper back down. "Uh, where was I... oh, that's right!" he said suddenly remembering. "Find your couple's names and then write down the name you chose for your baby. As long as you write a name you get a one-hundred. Fair enough?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and wrote down a name as the clipboard got passed around the room. Being at the very back of the room, the clipboard came to me and Johnny last, but I got it before him. Right after I recorded the name of the baby, I quickly tore out a sheet from the back of the clipboard and scribbled out a note to Johnny.

_Two-Bit told you about Angela… he mad?_

I glanced up at Two-Bit who was chatting happily with Kathy.

_Obviously not mad anymore, _I thought to myself. I scratched out what I had written before and replaced it with a new question.

_What did Two-Bit tell you?_

I let my note fall onto Johnny's desk as I passed the clipboard on.

"Good, good," Mr. Harrison said scanning the sheet once it got back to him. "One-hundreds for everyone. Now does anyone want to share their experience so far with their baby?"

A bunch of hands shot up in the air. Everyone was more then eager to share a story as long as it got them out of doing class work. Well, that's how I saw it anyways. It's a shame things aren't always what they seem to be.

"Oh. My. God. Let me tell you the hell I went through in one night!" Sheryl screamed as she stood in front of the class. "As soon as we left the school, Jerry offered to take me to The Dingo. I was like, 'sure but I need to drop the baby off at my house first.' Ladies and gentlemen, that's when it all started! The baby was gone! He lost it!" She'd said more but I tuned her out when a neatly folded sheet of paper flew on to my desk.

_He said you were all over Angela in the hall earlier. _

I looked over at him and his face was blank, showing no emotion. I quickly scribbled down my next message.

_I wasn't! Are you mad? _

I waited patiently for Johnny to write me a note back. He took a while to write some more down and when he was done he stuck his hand out to me. I was about to grab the note, but then Mr. Harrison intercepted it.

"What do we have here?" he asked, unfolding the piece of paper. His eyes moved left to right as he examined mine and Johnny's written conversation. He grunted once before moving to the front of the classroom. "Thank you, Sheryl." Sheryl took her seat, glaring at Jerry the entire way there. Mr. Harrison took a piece of chalk and on the board he wrote '_INFIDELITY_' in big block letters. He turned abruptly to face the class. "Infidelity," he pronounced loud and clear, and then underlined the word on the board three times, as if he wasn't already making his point. "Also known as _disloyalty, unfaithfulness, adultery_." With each synonym he was getting a step closer to my desk. _"Betrayal, treachery, deceitfulness_…" he looked down at me from underneath his glasses. "Help me, Mr. Curtis. Do you know any other synonyms?"

"No, Sir." I answered quietly.

"Perhaps you know what it can lead to?" I shook my head, urging myself to ignore the gob of spit that landed on my eyebrow, "divorce. One of the leading causes in our nation to divorce is infidelity. I trust that all of you—" he glanced at me "—excuse me, _most _of you are in a faithful relationship to your spouse."

I thanked what ever god that was looking down on me that the bell rang just then. The students around me jumped up and ran for the door, book bags clung tightly to their chests. "A word, Mr. Curtis?"

I sighed softly, "sure." _What else can go wrong today? _

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A/N: Cliffhangers! How evil! :D  
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**Aww, poor Ponyboy. Lots of bad crap happens to him, doesn't it? Oh, well. It'll get better... maybe. **

**Anyways, review! They make my day. :)  
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	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, you guys go ahead and check out I'm the Boss by spicygurl and leave some reviews. 'Kay? She worked months on that story and sadly she's only getting lots of favorites and barely any reviews. :( It would mean a lot to her and don't you love making authors happy? (Hint: They update faster!) **

**Terribly short chapter... but, you know, at least it's something! Oh, thanks again to ArthurDracula, you'll see that you're idea is present in this chapter. ;)  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Really.  
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"So, what'd Mr. Harrison have to say?" Johnny asked as soon as I stepped out of the classroom. I almost ran into him, he was standing so close. I don't think he noticed though, "you in trouble?"

"Nah, he just said he was disappointed in me for _cheating _but proud that I was taking the project seriously. He said it was only natural for a young boy like me to be interested in more than one person at a time… whatever." I looked around, "where's Two-Bit?"

Johnny's sudden blush surprised me and I raised my eyebrows in question. He pointed up the hall, where Two-Bit had Kathy pinned against a wall and was kissing her heavily. Their poor baby was forgotten off to the side against Kathy's shoes. Before I knew it, the two had relocated into the Men's restroom. "Er… wanna wait for him outside?" I offered.

"Yeah." Johnny couldn't have agreed more eagerly.

We walked out and sat on the top steps so when Two-Bit and Kathy… finished, he would see us when he came out. "Johnny, what did you write on the note anyway?"

He shrugged, "I actually don't remember. I think–" Johnny was interrupted as a small body wiggled its way in between us. The person was literally the size of a pixie and her blue-black hair was shiny. By the length of the hair alone, I could tell that this was a girl. She smelled like ivory soap and sickly sweet perfume.

Before I had time to even open my mouth, the girl looked up at me and was smiling crazily. Now I knew who it was: Angela Shepard. She didn't say anything (I'm not sure if she was even blinking) just kept smiling that crazy smile. It was really starting to creep me out so I finally asked, "Yes …?"

She scooted closer to me and pulled out her "baby" then held it in my face. "Guess what I named him!" she squealed. I shrugged and lowered her arms so her baby wasn't in my face. "Well, since you named your baby after me..." Uh oh, I knew where this was going and I didn't like it. "I thought it would be fair to name mine after _you_. Ponyboy, meet Ponyboy Jr.!"

I heard Johnny's chuckle on the other side of her and that made me blush all the more. "Listen, Angela, that's really–"

"Oh, Ponyboy," she interrupted, "what's your middle name? That would make it official!"

"Uh… it's Michael. Angela–"

"Hmm… I like that. Ponyboy Michael Curtis…" She let it resonate in the air for a while then glanced at me. I was giving her an awkward glance. "Junior! I meant, Ponyboy Michael Curtis, _Junior_! That name sounds good…" I still hadn't let the awkward expression leave my face. "Um… You know Curly and Tim are waiting for me… over there. I should get going." I didn't have to look to know that there was nobody in the direction she was pointing in, but I could already tell she was embarrassed as it was. "Bye."

"See you later, Angela," I said politely, kind of like as Soda would have. When she was out of earshot, I scooted closer to Johnny and for the briefest of seconds I thought I saw him scowling at Angela as she walked away. "How weird was that?"

Johnny shrugged half-heartedly and as I was going to ask him what was wrong, but just then Two-Bit burst through the front doors. "Hey," he said, carelessly holding the baby in one hand. Kathy stumbled behind him, shouldering the baby bag, and fixing up her hair. "Hi," she greeted almost breathlessly.

"You guys want a ride?" Two-Bit asked.

I was gonna say somethin' smart, but decided against it. Instead, I settled for a "Yeah."

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A/N: ****Review, please! **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry, I haven't updated in forever! I got a terrible case of Writers' Block and then I had too many ideas swirling around in my head and then finally I got past all of that crap. So, um, here's Chapter 5! Thank you to all my reviewers! They continue to make me smile. :) To the people who've been waiting: I hope you haven't forgotten this story yet!**

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The whole ride to Kathy's house was pretty awkward for us in the backseat. Kathy was all over Two-Bit, touching him in ways that should be illegal when driving a vehicle with minors and what Two-Bit was saying to her, was no better than what she was doing. I literally felt my face would explode from all the blushing I was doing. Johnny wasn't fairing any better; I could feel the heat radiating from his side of the car.

"See you tomorrow, Two-Bit?" Kathy asked as she stepped out of the car.

"Sure thing, baby." Kathy leaned in through the open window and pecked him on the lips before sauntering her way into her house. "Man, there goes the finest chick I ever did see!" He licked his lips. "Ain't that right, Pony– Christ, Kid, you sure can turn red!"

A quick glance in the rear view mirror, confirmed Two-Bit's accusations. My face looked like a big, ripe tomato. My ears were a shining scarlet, too. "Need some ice 'fore your head blows up?"

"If you and Kathy could keep your… business between yourselves, I wouldn't have anything to turn red for." Two-Bit only laughed as he pulled out of Kathy's driveway.

"You'll understand it some day, Kiddo. One of these days, Johnnycake here is gonna show you the world."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Shut up and take me home."

Johnny and I were sitting on the couch, baby Angela in between us, when there was a shy knock at the door. With tired eyes, I glimpse over at the door, then at Johnny who sighed heavily and got up to answer it.

I heard the door open and close but I didn't hear anybody talking. That's just like Johnny, I guess. My head rolled back and I closed my eyes as Johnny sat down right next to me, practically in my lap. Don't get me wrong, I love Johnny to death, but I could use a bit of space.

"Uh, Johnny," I asked, my eyes still closed.

"Yeah," his voice answered, however, it wasn't from right next to me. It came from in front of me and he sounded a bit amused. To this, I had to open my eyes and as soon as I did, I jumped up and rolled off the couch. Johnny stepped back so I wouldn't roll over his shoes and the girl on the couch giggled; a tinkling, light laugh that I compared to Soda's subconsciously.

"W-what are you doing here, Angela?" I didn't mean to stutter but she spooked me, _a lot_. "Your turf is on the _other_ side of greaser territory."

"You must be really important to me if I came all this way down here just to see you. You don't look like you're happy to see me, though… Are you, Ponyboy?"

"I-I, it's-it's not..." Man, I could _not _talk today and the fact that her hand was moving up and down my arm was not helping any matters.

Angela put on a puppy pout and pushed me gently on my back. I wondered vaguely about what had happened to the shy, nervous Angela from this afternoon. She had taken to sitting on my stomach, not that she was fat or anything but she knocked all the wind out of me. I don't think she noticed though; she didn't say anything. From the corner of my eye, I could see Johnny trying to inch his way out of the living room. I discreetly mouthed two words, "help" and "me", but Johnny quickly disappeared into the kitchen. Okay, go ahead and get your jollies. I made a mental note that I would get him back for leaving me in a situation like this. I tried to inconspicuously get Angela off of me but had no such luck.

As if things couldn't get any worse, Two-Bit (of all people) had to walk in just then. He looked at me and then Angela then blew up in laughter. "Gee, Pony, I didn't know you had it in you!"

I got up abruptly -accidentally throwing Angela onto the floor- and put my hands up to protest. "I wasn't... I mean, we weren't doing anything..."

"Sure, you weren't," Two-Bit said, skeptically.

"Pony, I think I'm gonna head home." I don't think I've seen a girl turn that red before. She quickly got up and left without as much as a 'bye'. As soon as she was gone Two-Bit started circling me.

"Looks like Baby Curtis ain't a baby anymore, is he?"

"Come on, Two-Bit," I slightly begged.

"Wait 'til Soda hears there's no more room in this town for him!"

"No, Two-Bit, don't tell my brothers! Be a pal!"

"Psh, yeah right! This is gold! I saw Darry's truck out front, he here? Darry's truck? Had I really been that oblivious to my surroundings? "Darry," Two-Bit called. A few seconds later, Darry surfaced from his room. Damn, he was so quiet back there, he must have been asleep.

"What," he asked, not failing to smack Two-Bit upside the head.

"Guess what Pony did!"

Even though my eyes were glued to Two-Bit in a set glare, I could feel Darry looking over me as he answered, "What'd he do?" I tensed at his voice.

"He—" I gave Two-Bit a pleading look "—got a 'B' in English!"

I turned to my older brother, who seemed to be sighing in relief. "You need to try harder, Ponyboy. I know you can do better then that."

I nodded in shock, Darry never accepted less than an 'A' with me. "Sure Darry, it'll be an 'A' before report cards come out."

"It better be. That all, Two-Bit?" Said greaser nodded and just as Darry started walking away Two-Bit yelled, "Pony got laid!"

I swear, mine and Darry's necks turned so quickly, I heard a few cracks. Johnny resurfaced from the kitchen then.

"Pony–" Darry started but he never finished because the door burst open.

"Hey, did the mail come yet?" Soda tossed his jacket in the general direction of the couch and, of course, missed his goal by a long shot. "I'm s'posed to get my…" He stopped when he noticed that he had interrupted something. "What's going on?"

"Pony got laid!" Two-Bit repeated.

"Our Pony?"

"No, Soda, the Ponyboy from across the street," Two-Bit said, going heavy on the sarcasm. "Or maybe it's the five other Ponyboys that we know."

"No need for the mockery."

Two-bit shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh, it's just one of those things that have to be done."

Soda looked at me doubtfully for a minute and then smiled broadly. "I guess it's just in the Curtis blood, right?"

Before I could even object to that statement, Darry started shaking his head furiously. "Pony, haven't I already explained this to you?"

"Um…" I stared blankly at him, unable to supply an answer. It'd probably be the wrong one anyways.

"You are too young to be doing this kinda of stuff. Next thing you know, you'll be…" I gave him the biggest eyes I could, hoping, for my sanity's sake, that I looked like Johnny. I knew it was working when he sighed, "Who is she anyways?"

"Yeah, Pony," Soda said now sipping a glass of chocolate milk, "who is the lucky broad?"

I had my mouth open, ready to explain that this whole thing was nothing more than Two-Bit being a dumbass like usual, but of course the asshole had to beat me to the punch. "Angela Shepard," he revealed dramatically.

Soda spewed out his mouthful of chocolate milk on the nearest person (which luckily wasn't me). "I knew it!"

"Watch where you're spittin'." Darry was grumbling as he wiped the milk from his face with his hands, but we all knew that he wasn't mad.

Soda uttered his 'sorry' and continued on with what he was saying. "That girl has been askin' about you since Day One. Every time she's at the DX it's" –He clasped his hands together, looked up, and flutter his eyelashes—"Do you know where Ponyboy is?"

I stifled groan because I knew that they wouldn't ever leave this Angela thing alone. Thankfully (and unthankfully), the baby started crying so I had a good excuse to get away.

**

* * *

A/N: Review! Hopefully, you'll see a lot more updates before school is back in! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Overall, from this experience, I've concluded several things.

One of them being that Angela Shepard was a nut job.

I just didn't understand it! She went from seducing me one day, to spreading rumors that _I _came after _her_.

The day after she came over, people were giving me strange looks. Envy from most males, goo-goo eyes from most females. At first I was convinced that it was from the project._ Maybe,_ I thought, _they found out about the agreement between Mr. Harrison, Johnny, and I. _That would explain the jealousy but what about the love eyes?

It wasn't until later that day at lunch that I was informed by a very angry Two-Bit. Turns out Angela was saying that she came over to talk and I … we … did stuff.

It took me a second to comprehend what had just been said but once I did, you better believe I was speechless. I pushed my half-eaten hamburger away from me, no longer hungry for it.

"Why would she do something like that? I haven't done anything wrong; I was nice to her and everything."

Two-Bit growled. "That's what I'm tryna figure out! Let me tell you something: Shepard outfit better watch their backs, this is serious."

I sighed. This wasn't going to go away simply by calling a rumble. Nothing good would come of it. People would get hurt, people would get angry, and then more people would get hurt. Rumbles weren't worth anything.

That's what I told Two-Bit and although he wasn't happy with my answer, he let it go.

There was only one more question that was bugging me.

"Hey, Two-Bit," I finally asked. He looked up at me. "Why are you so upset about this? Didn't you tell my brothers the same thing the other day?"

He laughed. "Yeah, but I knew ya didn't do anything. Soda an' Darry, they knew nothin' happened too … I hope. Anyways, I was just messin' with ya. You know that. You're way too innocent to be doing that kind of stuff. I'll be able to tell when you do it."

I tried arching an eyebrow. "How's that?"

"You'll stop blushin' like a maniac at the word 'sex'." As predicted, I blushed. Then, as a side note, he added, "You too, Johnnycake."

**oOoOo**

The following day brought this revelation:

Johnny and I are not fit for raising kids.

Steam followed Darry out of the bathroom and into his bedroom. "Y'all better get some sleep," he advised us before shutting his door.

Two-Bit hopped up from the couch and threw on his jacket. "Nu-uh, no way. Sleep on a Friday night? Must be kiddin' me. I'm headin' out." He strolled towards the front door.

"Bye." I waved him off. "Don't slam the–" I lunged for the knob meaning to prevent the door from hitting the frame so hard, but only came up with a empty fist. " –door."

"Hey, you guys hear that?" Soda questioned searching under the tables and in cabinets for the source of the noise. "I swear, I been hearing somethin' ringin' all day. Maybe it's just my ear..."

"No, that's our baby," I replied; Soda lifted his eyebrows.

"No, no, our _project_," Johnny corrected, saving another person from being mislead. He began searching for baby Angela as well as me. He briefly explained the project to Sodapop.

"It's just something we hafta do for Health class. We got into groups of two; Mr. Harrison gave us a baby to take care of—we gotta turn it in pretty soon."

"So..." Soda pointed his finger from me to Johnny and back again. "So you two...?"

"We didn't get to choose our spouse, if that's what you're thinking."

"Oh, all right then..."

The noise, although muffled, was getting increasingly loud and I could sense mine and Johnny's grade steadily descending. "Where'd it go?" I mumbled overturning the couch cushions. The last place it had been was crammed between me and Angela. It should have been here somewhere.

Johnny searched deep within the couch and after a few minutes began tugging on the ends of a white bag. "Got it! Wait, hold on. I think it's stuck." He gave the bag a sharp pull and a puff of white powder rose up in to the air, then settled and stained the couch. I closed my eyes tightly, silently counted to three, and then opened them back up again. The fact had not changed. Our baby was as good as gone.

Eyes widened, jaws dropped slightly, Johnny and I had the same seemingly frozen look on our face. "I, uh..." Johnny began. "Sorry, man…."

By the limp ends of the bag I slowly pulled the baby up into my arms. I started thinking that maybe Kathy could seamlessly stitch up the rips, but even if she did it wouldn't make up for the dramatic weight loss baby Angela went through.

"Here, man, just set it on the counter. Maybe we can just … I dunno. Tape it? And we should put something in it first, make it look a little more like it did before."

I thought it over. "Ya know, that could work, Johnny. Yeah, it could be like bandages or somethin'."

But, of course, when you split your baby down the middle and are forced to tape it back together. It's just not the same.

**oOoOo**

In the morning, the smell of pancakes led me to the kitchen where Sodapop stood in front of the stove pouring batter into a pan. He flipped the pancake, waited a couple minutes, flipped it again, and then added it to a growing stack beside him. Soda wasn't aware of my presence in the room until I slid a chair across the tile and sat down in it.

"Oh, g'mornin', Pony." He glanced back at me for only a second when he said this, and then continued back with his work.

"Good mornin'." I waited around for a while before asking where Darry was. He was usually the first one up.

"I think he went off to go an' run some early morning errands." Soda arranged two plates of pancakes and joined me at the table. "Grocery shoppin' probably."

We ate in silence for a moment. I thought about how strange Soda's cooking was and could be. This food was actually its natural golden brown color, yet when I cut into it uncooked batter seeped out, then when I poked the other side a puff of powder blew out. I was moving the stuff around my plate when something occurred to me.

"Soda, you didn't use the flour on the counter, right?"

"'Course I did. How'd ya think I made these? Wasn't any other in the house. Come to think of it I used the lasts of the bag."

I let my fork drop to my plate with a small clink. "That was mine and Johnny's project. Ya know the flour bag we've been caring for for the past week or so? Please tell me you didn't use _that _bag of flour to make these pancakes."

"Sorry, Pone." Soda let me down.

I huffed. "Could you not eat those at least?"

Soda studied his food for a while then look up at me. "Sorry to break it to ya, but me not eating isn't gonna bring your project back. Alls it gonna do is keep me hungry." He stuffed his face some more, making me increasingly worried about my now non-existent child. "Oh, c'mon, Pony," he prompted noting my expression. "Just eat. You barely made a dent in your stack." After I made no attempt to eat Soda reassured me. "Don't worry Darry prob'ly picked up some more flour at the store."

"I can't just use any old bag; the original's got a sensor-"

"So that's what that was! A sensor."

"-and nobody sells plain white flour bags, do they? They've all got logos on 'em."

"Well, we can cover up the stickers?"

I was about to say some more but Soda cut me off just then. "Don't worry so much, Pony. Just head off to school and I'll figure somethin' out."


End file.
